Developer. Designer. Entrepreneur.

Bike.ly – a better bicycle map

I wasn’t satisfied with the options available for on-the-go cyclists. The iPhone Google Maps doens’t have bike directions (though it may be coming in iOS 6), and the web and native apps all seem to be lacking either good directions or a good interface (or both). I typically end up pulling out a physical map when I need to find a good way to get from point A to point B in San Francisco.

Bike.ly allows you to quickly get highlighted directions on a map from your current location. However, I’ve run into a big problem in that iOS 5.1 (the latest iOS at this time) does not support local storage. In other words, if you save the app to the homescreen, map out the directions, put it back in your pocket, and pull it out again, then the directions will be lost. I’m currently investigating alternatives (seems cookies might work) to make it a better user experience without resorting to PhoneGap. To be continued….